Economy

By Valentina Ieri UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – In 2014, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) saw the worst escalation of hostilities since 1967, said a report by the United Nations Office of Coordination and Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), released on March 26. The report, Fragmented Lives, said that the Gaza strip’s 1.8 […]

Economy

How GOP threats against Iran have Guaranteed end of European Sanctions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The US sanction regime on Iran has a unilateral dimension. That is, there are sanctions only the US applies. Then there is a European dimension, which involves using the clout of the Department of Treasury as well as the persuasiveness of the Department of State’s diplomats to get […]

Economy

What exactly have the US & EU been doing to Iran’s Economy?

contributors

By Luke Johnson | (RFE/RL) Iran has been targeted by a steady dose of economic and military sanctions over the past 35 years, resulting in a maze of red tape intended to compel Tehran to end its support for international terrorism, improve its human rights record, and to assuage concerns that it is seeking to […]

Arab Spring

Tunisia needs Rights and Economic Development, not a ‘War on Terror’

contributors

By John Hursh | (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday afternoon, gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis, killing at least 20 people. Many more people sustained serious injuries. The casualties included foreign tourists and Tunisians, although most victims were foreigners. Tunisian leaders and citizens strongly condemned the attack. Foreign governments and human rights organizations offered […]

Featured

Tom Friedman & funding ISIL: Israel/Iran Derangement Syndrome

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Being a liberal Zionist was always a tough thing to pull off, but it is becoming increasingly just impossible. The intrinsic contradiction between wanting social justice and equity at home and supporting a militaristic and Apartheid Israel abroad produces what psychologists call cognitive dissonance. It is hard to […]

Dissent

Palestinian-Israelis Aspire to National Role after Elections

contributors

France24 | – At 20% of the Israeli population, Israelis of Palestinian heritage have united to back a single party and for the first time could lead the opposition in parliament with the third-largest party, giving them an official role in diplomacy. This marginalized community dreams of gaining the influence its numbers support. – JC […]

Dissent

Dear MSM: The Israeli Elections are about Minority rights, not Iran

contributors

By Sammy Smooha | (The Conversation) There are 5.3 million eligible voters living in Israel today (votes may be not cast abroad). Among these voters there are three main minority (non-dominant) groups. Their numbers break down, according to my own estimates, as follows: Palestinian Arabs are 15%, Mizrahim or “Oriental” Jews (who immigrated from Muslim […]

Democracy

Could a Netanyahu loss in Israeli Elections change Everything?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Israeli polling is suggesting that Binyamin Netanyahu’s party might get only 21 seats or less in the 120-seat Israeli parliament, with his rivals, the Zionist Union, getting 24 or 25. There is even the possibility of the gap between the two widening and Netanyahu doing even worse. The […]

Climate Change

Is Big Oil Finally Entering a Climate Change World?

contributors

By Michael T. Klare | (Tomdispatch.com) Many reasons have been provided for the dramatic plunge in the price of oil to about $60 per barrel (nearly half of what it was a year ago): slowing demand due to global economic stagnation; overproduction at shale fields in the United States; the decision of the Saudis and […]